Necessary Retreat?
Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God. Psalm 119:115 ESV
Keep – The company you keep has a direct effect on your ability to delight the Lord. Old places and old faces, as every Twelve-Stepper knows, will certainly drag you back down the addictive path. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool.
Notice, however, that it is not David who moves away. He stays put and tells the mereim (the ones who do evil) to leave. “Go away!” can be a righteous act. Civility isn’t required when obedience to the Lord is on the line. By the way, unless you realize that mereim are not the most hideous people on earth, you will miss the point. David isn’t sending away axe murders and pedophiles. He is sending away those who proclaim what God says is good is really evil and what God says is evil is really good. That takes in the crowd that tries to redefine biblical ethics according to cultural mores. For example, in God’s Kingdom, you are not allowed to marry anyone you wish. But then in God’s Kingdom you will have His desires in your heart and your wishes will conform with His character, so I don’t suppose it will be much of an issue, will it? David’s point is that character is determined by conforming to the commandments. Those who show no desire to conform to the will of the Creator need to part company – and most of the time, that means we need to direct them to leave.
Ah, this is so uncomfortable. We are Gentiles grafted in. That means most of our past acquaintances, friends and even family are among those who, usually without realizing it, are defining God’s goodness according to their own culture. They just don’t know precisely what God said and so they listen to someone tell them what to believe. They honor the “Sunday,” not the Sabbath, because they have been taught that God replaced His “eternal” commandment with a new one. They don’t follow the biblical festivals because they probably have never heard of them. They think communion is the equivalent of Passover. They have no idea what the Shema actually says. They think taking the Lord’s name in vain is about swearing and using foul language. They can’t imagine a barbeque without baby-back ribs. It isn’t that they are deliberately resistant (yet). It’s just that they belong to a culture that never taught them what God actually said. But there is still hope. Perhaps they will see the words and live accordingly.
The uncomfortable part comes when they refuse. “You’re just being a legalist.” “Why should I live by some Jewish rules?” “But 1800 years of Church teaching can’t be wrong.” “I have God in my heart. What difference does it really make if I eat shrimp?” When the resistance begins, the person transitions from one who is anxious to explore the truth of Scripture to one who is determined to justify his present view. Then David would say, “When you seek to define what God says is wrong by telling me and others that it is right, you must leave my company. I want to serve Him according to what He says, not according to what you tell me it means to you.” Uncomfortable? Yes. Necessary? Unfortunately, also yes.
David doesn’t use the usual word for “keep” in this poem. Instead he uses the verb natsar. It really means, “to protect.” It is used to describe protecting military installations and fortifications. It is used metaphorically about guarding or protecting what one says with the mouth or guarding the path of life. In a third sense, it is used to express faithful loyalty to God’s covenant promises and the Torah. As TWOT notes, “The Lord himself is the one keeping loyal love (ḥesed) to thousands of generations (Ex 34:7). But mortal men are also responsible for observing the covenant (Deut 33:9; Ps 25:10) and the precepts or law of God (Ps 78:7; 105:45; 119:2, 22, 33, 34, 56, 69, 100, 115, 129, 145). Even the commands of parents (Prov 6:20; 28:7) and the discipline of wisdom (Prov 3:1, 21; 4:13; 5:2) require the same kind of faithful observance.”[1] It is impossible to imagine that David did not have Torah in mind when he wrote this line.
That makes life difficult for most of us because we do not live in communities that honor the Torah of YHWH. We live in Babylon and are surrounded by those who do not follow the Torah of YHWH, either out of ignorance or out of rebellion. And sending them away is probably the most painful part of “keep.”
Topical Index: keep, natsar, good, evil, culture, grafted in, Psalm 119:115
[1] Kaiser, W. C. (1999). 1407 נָצַר. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (595). Chicago: Moody Press.
I once heard a saying that if you have an orange with a bad bruise and put it into a bag of perfectly good oranges do the good oranges have the ability to change the one with the bad spots? NO, you will end up with a bag of rotten oranges. kinda reminds me of this same thing. until we get the wrong thinking and the wrong walk in line with the word we are wrong, period.
“I can worship God on sunday; for me all days of the week are the same”. Michael Rood has a nice comment on this: I don’t worship YOU, I worship the Creator of the Universe! And He tells me to stop working on shabbat!
Michael Rood is an Excellent teacher. Come Dec. 6th. There will be a 24 hour LIVE Streaming!
I should shortly be receiving his Newly published book, The Chronological Gospels.
It’s been such a blessing to keep shabbat and all of Yahweh’s Feast days.. They are His Appointed times to meet with His People!
Shalom aleichem.
Shirley Anne; I do not recall reading a reply of yours previously; I am wondering about your language background as we lived in West Pakistan way back when 1962–and we used their words
‘- Salaam alaikum” meaning the blessings of God upon you. If a person greeted you with just the word, “Salaam” that meant greetings, but then you could reply “Salaam alakium”.
I will goggle in Michael Rood. Enjoyed reading yesterday where Skip is being hosted in Australia about the believers web pages; their doctrines, about them, and also the beautiful pictures Skip took and posted. We are having a 30 degree temp tonight and next few days in Central TX. My pineapple guava plant taller than our house that we transplanted and moved from Houston here 12 years ago, is now in its second blooming season for this year, so no fruit now from it. We actually are not tropical climate so it’s really amazing it has had any fruit. But we did plant it a low sheltered area by the house. Salaam Alaikum. L.B.
In Hebrew it means, Peace be upon you! Then if the person wishes, they return the greeting with Aleichem shalom. Peace also to you!
I speak English. I’m originally from the U.K.
I have travelled quite a bit… Canada, USA. And other places and sub-continents!
Shalom aleichem.
Amein & Amein.
What a humbling teaching today. I personally see the word “resistance” is very bold letters. It is happening in my life. That is what I am doing in certain areas–resisting. Y-H knows it and if I am honest with myself-I know it.
It is really hard to be in Babylon (born and raised in it really) and knowing any different until Y-H calls to me and begins to open my eyes and ears and I begin to hear the real truth of the One God of the scriptures. As I am hearing and learning, I am seeing just how far short it falls to be a “good” person apart from obeying Torah.
I don’t know about anyone else out there reading this today but this puts arrows thru my heart. I have so far to go and at times so little control over yetzer hara. I can only try again and continue to petition Y-H to help me chose wisely whom I will serve.
Thank you Skip for these tough lessons. It is not hard to see why there is only a remnant left of Y-H’s people. It also becomes clearer how very narrow the righteous path really is and how vast and broad the path to destruction and why so many are on it.
It is a bit overwhelming today.
You know, it’s kinda funny thing…I have a key chain that I have had for years. It says…
“God said it. I believe it. That settles it.”
That pretty much sums it up however, it depends upon what you believe God says which depends on which glasses you have on for the day. You know; Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, SDA, Amish, Tribal, Ancestor, Hindu. You see what I mean.
It can get confusing fast and that is what the enemy counts on. Keeping God’s true word away from any who would seek it. There are so many who mean well but fall short of the mark.
I find myself falling short. I am hearing the word that God has left for us and have some great teachers but I am still resisting. I need to utter the words “go away” in some instances. I have to make God honoring choices in all things. I need a bit more control over the evil inclination within.
The key chain just struck me as funny it this light and I felt a need to share it with all of you. 🙂
Hmmm
In Roman’s 14:1-4, Paul would seem to advocate a somewhat more tolerant approach 🙂
14:1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
14:2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
14:3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?
14:4 It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
Michael –
Paul was writing to Roman gentile believers about their relationship with the synagogue of Jews who were not YET believers, anticipating that their (the gentile believers) circumspect behavior would draw in those Jews who were not yet believing — or at least help set the ground work for Paul to come and share with them. You are reading those verses backwards.
Luke 9:52-56: “…they did not receive him…And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
But he (Jesus) turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.”
Hi Suzanne,
I’m not sure that the audience, a “synagogue of Jews,” is enough evidence to negate my point
The Son of Man is advocating tolerance in the passage from John above
The Christians tend to “sweat the small stuff,” but Jews would seem to embrace “diversity”
After all, Judaism includes Orthodox, Conservative, and Liberal Jews, as I understand it
Just because the text says “thou shalt not do …”
Does not mean we should not love those who do 🙂
But Michael, they were all “Jews” – that is, they all believed God and strove for obedience; even if they differed in understanding of the detail of what “obedience” looked like, nevertheless the importance of Torah was never in question.
The subject at hand is “God’s righteousness” vs “self-righteousness” – God decides what is right (as specified in Torah) vs “I decide what is right”. Or, to put it another way, the fruit of the tree of life vs the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Those who obey Torah vs those who deny the applicability of it (or even the existence of the author) at all.
Paul’s comments in Romans 14 is about the detail of how to obey, not whether to obey or not.
Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God. Psalm 119:115 ESV
Hi Rodney,
Just for the sake of argument, and my argument at the moment is to treat others with
Loving kindness
In everyday life, if we encounter on the street a person espousing the likes of
Psalm 119:115
Like King David, the man has either committed some serious sins, in David’s case
Adultery and Murder
Or he is mentally deranged like the folks we encounter living on the street in SF
Romans14:1-4,Paul is referring to food that is purchased in the market place.There was no way of telling if part of the food or wine had been sacrafised to pagen gods.Some thought it was okay to purchase it and eat it,yet others said you cant know so you should only buy from where you were absolutely sure.
Very good post. Gives a lot to think about.
Amein! Being challenged to dig into the Word, is such a blessing. 🙂
Dawn wrote: “until Y-H calls to me and begins to open my eyes and ears and I begin to hear the real truth of the One God of the scriptures. As I am hearing and learning, I am seeing just how far short it falls to be a “good” person apart from obeying Torah. I don’t know about anyone else out there reading this today but this puts arrows thru my heart.”
O PRAISE YHVH! His working in your life is WORKING! Let us rejoice to our LORD GOD ALMIGHTY! We cannot “do the right thing” until He pierces our souls with His PERFECT MEDICINE OF CONVICTION. Then, the path is so very easy because it is RIGHT! People actively, obviously refusing YHVH and living their way will fall away/run away from you, a NUT CASE, some with venomous resentment toward you and this God you serve, and some will be apathetic and “nice” as they run from you, a Jew-wannabe (supposedly locked into bondage!) I speak from experience!
Teach us more, Skip! Give us more meat so that we can study it for ourselves with the Holy Spirit of YHVH’s direction!
IF Skip is right in this, WHY are so many church and mission ministries being blessed? (OK, some may not be). Or would it be the case that – if he’s right – they would be blessed even more? And if he is wrong – why is he wrong? I must admit that the force of his words hit me hard today. We all want (to want) to do God’s will in principle…maybe that’s my problem. Sometimes I only want to want to…
How do you define “blessed”? Growth in converts? Performing great acts of charity? Accomplishing noble deeds? IS your definition DIRECTLY tied to what God says is pleasing to Him? If it is, then He will use whatever is. But if your idea of “blessed” comes from the cultural view of success, then that success may in fact be a curse. God blesses what serves His purposes. Every other “success” story is a repetition of the Bishop who told my friend after visiting the biggest churches in Orlando, “I never knew you could do so much without God.”
This is what plagues me and most of the rest of us–the inclination towards Greek thought without even knowing we are doing it. 🙂
I have asked and find myself sometimes still asking this very question John. Blessings are determined by the method of measure. Skip says it well.
I would like to add that even suffering can be considered a blessing unless you are thinking through American (Greek) minds.
The pain this teaching causes me (see above) I am considering a blessing as I can see I am not yet numb in my resistance and God loves me enough to discipline me thru Skip’s teaching. God is being gentle with me just yet…
It would do us all well to investigate the context of the word “blessing” in Scripture. A wide range, for sure.
But this does NOT mean that God doesn’t use those who are deliberately disobedient AND those who are disobedient out of ignorance, and because this is the case, we tend to think that our views of “blessing” are the right ones. After all, God is working with these people. We forget that there is a big difference between cooperation and tolerance.
A good point, thank you.
“Houston, do we have a problem?”
Jesus said:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor
and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless
those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for
those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be
sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the
evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
The problem. . .
How are we to fulfill these words of the Master and “send away” those
who show no desire to conform to God’s will? Remember the evil doer
who was on the cross next to Jesus?
He was not sent away. He was invited in.
I believe this passage is talking about people who would try to keep me from obeying God’s commandments. Not people who just disagree with me. If being around certain people will keep ME from obedience (not keep THEM), then we must part company. That’s why being married to someone outside the faith can be so troublesome.
Sometimes I think we box ourselves into a corner when we take first steps toward godly obedience. Zeal untempered can lead to argumentativeness. Better to let our example speak for us. When I first decided to follow the lead of the Bible, the entire Bible, forty years ago, my family and my priest thought I had gone off the deep end. But God, in many ways, provided proof for them that allowed them to reconsider and let me live my own beliefs.
One example: A couple of my nephews worked under me when I was foreman for a modular home-building company. They were transferred to a different department, one with lots of problems. My nephews went home to their parents saying, “What they need is Uncle Tom in that department. He’d straighten things out!” Those comments got back to Grandpa, my Dad. Dad was German, through and through. Work was important to him. Efficiency. Hard work. Get ‘er done. That my new-found, strange beliefs were obviously not hindering my doing good work was well received by him, to say the least.
Dad at first thought I should be locked up for being crazy! Some years later, when my wife was visiting my parents, Dad took her into the living room and, looking at the pictures of all eight of us kids, made a pointed remark to my wife: “Not a black sheep among them.” He had completely accepted my beliefs and behaviors.
There will be times when we must part company with those who would try to deter us from our walk. We should not be hasty to do so. But, as I said in another posting, give them enough rope. They’ll either save themselves with it. Or hang themselves.
Christ (Himself) was “accused” of being a friend of sinners. I am glad that in this case, what they said of Him was true. I am another witness to it.
Great point. So true! Yeshua was “accused” of being a friend of sinners. But would Yeshua have considered himself a friend of sinners? John 15:14: “You are My friends, if you do what I command you.
In context, Yeshua compares John the Baptist being “accused” of having a demon with himself being called a glutton, winebibber and friend of sinners. It was certainly an accusation and was par for the course with the Pharisees that were constantly trying to trap him in some way.
I am with you. I am thankful that he loved sinners enough “allowed” himself to be “accused” of being a friend. Because I would have been chief among those he was accused of befriending. But I also so know that while he was “accused” he certainly was not a “friend”. He was also “accused” of being possessed with demons, blasphemy, breaking the Sabbath, etc……but of course we now know better.
From Luke 7.33,34: ~ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ “Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
(the Son of Man speaking to His talmudim) ~ No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what His Master (LORD) is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you ~ (John 15.15)
Unless we “separate ourselves” to the point of living in a cave (or monastery) we will (always) be confronted with sinful people. While attending a football game, a church service or sitting in a synagogue, there will be to our right, to our left and in between, “sinners.” What is a “saint” but a saved sinner?
It is truly a mystery, but this I know.. I present myself ( the sinner) to Him (the Savior) and He is the One who specializes in making a Message from a mess, – We “transition” from sinner to saint, son, soldier and steward- it is (without a doubt) one of the greatest miracles ever.
And friends, if “any man” (Jew or Gentile, male or female) be *in Christ,* he (or she) is a (radically) new creation and a twice-born trophy of His grace.
Wow, Skip, this blog entry is right on target. Very timely, too. It came while my brain was processing a directive from my boss that I couldn’t do with any integrity. But how to discuss it? After several days of cogitating, I followed my “instinct” this day and asked for a meeting with my publisher who wanted my editor’s note to wish everyone in my two markets a Merry Chrstmas. I told her I did not wish anyone a merry christmas and I wanted to work with her to find a way for that sentiment to not be mine. Meanwhile my managing editor, who is between me and my publisher in the hierarchy, was fuming that I would even ask… she had tried to tell me this was one of those things I should suck up. But wonderfully, Baruch Yahweh, my publisher saw my point and suggested what my “instinct” told me upon wakening this morning… that if the sentiment were placed below my signature, not above it, and if the publisher would own the sentiment, then I would not be dishonoring Our Father. Lo and behold, in the meeting with the publisher, SHE volunteered the solution that my “instinct” gave me in early meditations. So, I stood firm and am duly strengthened for the next battle, whenever that may come.
May times through all the thinking leading up to today, I thought about just quitting, just turning my back on these people who live in the deception, but that is not what Yahweh led me to do. He led me to confront the issue in a very non-confrontational manner and He was in the midst of us. HalleluYah! I still have a job and who knows what He is doing in the hearts of the ladies I had to talk to today…
Have a wonderful Prep Day and Shabbat and may Yahweh bless you richly as you all explore together the height and depth and breadth and width of the love of Yahshua!
Shalom,
–M
“Old places and old faces, as every Twelve-Stepper knows, will certainly drag you back down the addictive path.” Until we break free of those old ways, and habits, to pursue a new way, a paradigm shift of perspectives, the familiar, well-trodden way we are so comfortable with, will get us further and further away from YHWH’s ways.
“When the resistance begins, the person transitions from one who is anxious to explore the truth of Scripture to one who is determined to justify his present view.”
Sadly true! How stiff-necked can we/mankind get?
“We live in Babylon and are surrounded by those who do not follow the Torah of YHWH, either out of ignorance or out of rebellion”
Or, both! I have been told-‘a woman is not to teach’, ‘Torah is rubbish, you will get back under the curse’, ‘doing the parasha is nonsense’, ‘read more on the “NT”, spend less time on the OLD T’!!
ABBA’s Hand upon these “Bible-believing” folks, to break their foolishness and pride! That they may break free from lying, deceptive spirits in their lives! Amein!
“And sending them away is probably the most painful part of “keep.”
True, but, Bible-believing folks who presume their Bible knowledge is way above yours, yet they deny the Torah and YHWH’s commands, persistently “persuade” others to conform to their mindsets, is pretty disgusting to the Spirit. No choice but to stay away from them UNLESS they seek and hunger, and have an ear to listen.
I have this article about sending the evildoers away, twice. I get it. it really confirms to me a question I have had this week. Well written! I was wondering in a topic I think your may have been referring to as an example, (the part that we can not marry anyone we choose in the kingdom), if you have had any experience ministering to the homosexual community. My son and his girlfriend are very drawn to Torah, but I know they have several gay friends and they have admitted to me that this was a hard pill to swallow because they are so emotionally attached to some of their friends. They are not sure how to process what to do with this. Do we just tell them to get over it? I mean…so many people in Christianity either have embraced it, or hate them. Any thoughts?
Unfortunately I cannot address your concern from personal experience. I am sure that you are aware of how seriously the Bible treats this issue, calling it one of the abominations to the Lord. That said, I don’t think much will be accomplished by preaching at these people. What they must see, if they are willing to see, are followers of Yeshua who do not fail to love them, look for the image of God in them, praise them when they exhibit works of righteousness but nevertheless gently (maybe) oppose their choice. And, by the way, it is a choice even if the DNA sets the parameters (which I seriously doubt). Everyone of us has a choice to follow the dictates of the Way or not, and this particular choice is no different as a choice than any other. I am called to deny my self in order to put His priorities first. For some this is a harder road but it is the same road for all.